Political pundit Ion Tabirta thinks that the Cabinet shake-up proposed yesterday is an attempt to mend the relationship with Europe, but suggests the reorganization will not really change the way decisions are made within the government.
“Externally, the Democrats are trying to improve the Moldova-EU relationship, which has been rather strained lately. In 2017, Moldova’s reputation was seriously affected by the electoral system change. This is where Mr. Leanca, with all his vast experience and technocratic skills, comes into play with the task to restore dialogue with the European partners. It’s true that Mr. Leanca himself has been lately regarded not quite favorably by some political families in the EU, in particular the European People’s Party, after last year’s presidential elections in Moldova”.
“Internally, the shuffle’s declared goal is to keep the governmental team out of politics. This is how they say the Government is depoliticized. But we should understand all the details of this decision: why are these people fielded, some new ones, and others not so much? We see a comeback of a number of politicians who once held key positions in the Liberal Democratic Party. There could be a hidden load in that. Then, why was Mr. Gheorghe Balan removed from the Cabinet after achieving what appeared to be a rather great success in the Transnistrian settlement process, at least image-wise for Moldova? So we should wait and see how good the new ministers are, and see more clearly all the ins and outs of this move”.
“It’s difficult to call this a technocratic Government, because the institutional relationship remains unclear between the governing party and the Government. We rarely see in the EU countries major decisions being taken first by the party and then by the Cabinet. Following elections, parties delegate representatives into the Government, after which they behave more like a state institution and less like a partisan institution. But here in Moldova, we try to appoint people who are seen as alternatives to party members, while decision-making still remains entirely subordinated to the governing party”.
“Still, I must admit that some of the appointees have this reputation as technocrats. Again, Mr. Leanca: despite being also a party leader, we know him as a person who built a solid diplomatic career before going into politics. The same can be said about Mr. Tanase. Mr. Gaburici didn’t have any party affiliation and had only a brief experience heading the Government. Mrs. Lisnic is not a household name exactly, but we don’t know about her having any political affiliation either. This is also the case of the new minister of health. So if you look at their CVs, you might conclude that they are more or less all technocrats. But the question is how the Government will work as a whole. Will it be an entity functioning independently from the governing party or will we continue to see this hazy relationship?”
Six members of the Filip Cabinet will be replaced and a new deputy prime minister position will be included in a shake-up announcement by the Democratic Party president Vlad Plahotniuc on Tuesday.
